UTSA practice No. 7, 9/19

With no media availability, there wasn’t much to talk about today. With the downpour that soaked Farris Stadium just as practice ended Sunday, I might not have stuck around regardless. Somebody should have taken down the names of the 25 or so fans who braved the elements — on an NFL Sunday, no less. They deserved at least a free t-shirt, if not tickets to next year’s opener.

Pretty standard practice, with the same kicking game/position/unit/team format. Not full contact, but “thud” conditions (strong wrap-up, no taking ballcarriers to the ground) for the team work. Offensive coordinator Travis Bush said it’s ideal when both the offense and defense make plays, with neither unit dominating the other.

That’s pretty much what we saw Sunday, with the offense scoring two long “touchdowns” — the plays were whistled dead after the ballcarrier broke into the clear — and the defense getting an interception and a couple of sacks.

It’s pointless to look for any conclusions at this point, but the wide receiver continues to look like one of the strongest parts of the team. A couple of days after Earon Holmes dominated UTSA’s first scrimmage on Wednesday, colleague Jake Wanamaker got into the act, pulling in two passes for about 45 yards. Not only that, walk-on Chris Lomax — one of the survivors from UTSA’s open tryout last spring — “scored” from midfield on an inside reverse.

The defense was reeling at that point, but it rebounded with an interception from Darrien Starling — Eric Soza threw it right to him, a la Neil O’Donnell to Larry Brown in Super Bowl XXX — and two “sacks” in the final four plays. (Plays are whistled dead any time the pass rush gets close to the quarterbacks.)

The skies opened up, and both units sprinted for their respective locker rooms. Another practice complete. And it must not have been half bad, as for the first time since UTSA started I didn’t see a single player get chewed out for not knowing his assignment.